The Promise of Christmas
by Jadet
Summary: A Christmas story of misunderstandings, hurt, forgiveness, and joy. Oh, and love too. Can't forget love. HYxRP fluff. Enjoy!


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam Wing characters, but I DO own this story idea and Holly. Ain't she cute?! ::hugs Holly::  
  
Author's Notes: Wow, this was a story that got out of control. I haven't written anything for a long time, but suddenly the last few days I felt the urge. And then when I was listening to that song about 'paving paradise', the idea for this came up. I get so tired sometimes when I'm reading GW fanfiction and almost every single plot line makes Heero the ONLY reason for any relationship problems. True, Relena is "loyal" to him, but she's also human. She can make mistakes in their relationship just as much as Heero can. Anyway, that was what the idea for this story stemmed from. That, and Christmas is just around the corner, and I wanted to write a Christmas-y story. Please review and tell me how this story turns out!! Thanx!!   
  
PS: Oh, and the lyrics at the end are from "Save the best for last" by Vanessa Williams. GOOD song, but a bit sad. Which is why it fits. But, um, yeah. Enjoy.  
  
~*~  
  
"The Promise of Christmas"  
  
A Gundam Wing Fanfiction  
  
By Jadet  
  
Copyright 03'  
  
~*~  
  
There would be no going back.  
  
Relena stared up at the boarding house in front of her, nervously chewing on her bottom lip. It wasn't that bad of a house actually. True, it was leaning to one side a bit, and the wrap-around porch could use another coat of paint, but the building eluded a warm feeling. Kind of like coming home after a bad day to a warm fire, fuzzy slippers, and a good book that was just a couple hundred pages away from being done. It was surprising, actually, considering the person she was looking for. She wouldn't have thought he would go for the whole homey atmosphere, but didn't that just fall under the rule, "don't judge a book by its cover"? Or in this case, don't judge a Gundam pilot by his outward cold demeanor?   
  
Relena shook her head at her strange thoughts, and lifted a foot to move forward. Then she put it back down. Okay, maybe she shouldn't do this, she thought with a slight twinge of panic True, she had been looking for him for a little over two years now, a search that had caused her more than one night of crying into an already tear-soaked pillow. And true, he deserved to know the truth... but did it have to be today? It was Christmas Eve, for Kami's sake. She should be back at home with her family, celebrating around a heavily decorated Christmas tree, eating turkey dinner followed by Pagan's famous chocolate fudge, and in generally just being merry. But instead she was in a small town in Montana in the dead of winter freezing her Armani-clad ass off, and to top it off her mind in total chaos trying to figure out how to tell him that... that... that what? She missed him, that she was sorry, that she never meant to do it and would he please forgive her and come back home? Yeah, that sounded like a winner of an apology, all right.   
  
Her nose itched from the cold, and her ears ached underneath her wool cap. This was crazy. She should just go back home. What reason did he have to forgive her? She ruined it all three years ago, and coming now to apologize wouldn't make up for it.   
  
Maybe she should just go home today... she could come back when she had more courage.   
  
"And a peace offering," she muttered to herself. She started to turn around.  
  
A gust of cold wind whipped around her, freezing her nose mid-twitch and causing the weight in her arms to stir fretfully. She put her boot-clad foot back in the snow, and gently adjusted her hold on her burden until she could free up a hand. After a few tugs, the blanket moved just a bit to see that the 2-year-old girl she carried in her arms was stirring from her nap. Relena rocked her daughter slightly, hoping that she would go back to sleep. But to no avail. It was too cold, and her mother's arms were getting weary from holding a toddler non-stop for the last few hours and slowly had started slipping lower and lower.  
  
Dark blue eyes blinked open, and Relena found herself smiling for the first time in almost a day when Holly Peacecraft grinned toothily back at her. A big shiver racked her body almost immediately, however, and the toddler reached up to tug on a strand of Relena's hair that had worked its way from beneath her cap.  
  
"Cold, mama. Cold."   
  
Relena frowned worriedly, and looked around. While homey feeling, the apartment building was smack dab in the middle of no where, which is why is probably appealed to *him*. There was no where else to go to warm up but inside. Relena sighed in defeat, but rubbed her daughter's back comfortingly.   
  
"Okay, sweetie. We'll go inside and warm up, okay?"  
  
Another shiver made the toddler's body tremble, but she enthusiastically bobbed a dark blond head. "'Kay, Mama. Go inside."  
  
Relena laughed, and reached down to grab a small travel bag she had dropped earlier. Then without letting herself think about it, she walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. For almost a minute of complete silence on the other side, Relena worried that no one would answer. But then the sound of a lock being undone reached her ears, and a middle-aged woman appeared in the doorway.  
  
She was a pit on the pudgy side, Relena noted, but there was great warmth in her gray eyes that brightened when she saw who was standing on the doorstep.  
  
"Oh! The two of you must be freezing! Come in, come in!" She ushered Relena and Holly inside the door, and immediately took Relena's travel bag and her coat. Relena thanked her with a smile, and stooped to relieve herself of her daughter's weight.   
  
As soon as her feet touched the ground, the toddler was off and running. Her squeals of delight reverberated off the walls as she explored her new play area, and both the woman and Relena shared a smile.  
  
"Isn't she just the most precious thing? What's her name?"   
  
Relena smiled softly, and peeled off her gloves. "Holly. Holly, sweetie, come here and meet... um," Relena trailed off, realizing her breech in etiquette. The woman started laughing at the uncomfortable look on Relena's face and hugged her around the shoulders.  
  
"Don't you be frettin', missy. My name is Sandra. I'm the landlady of this place."  
  
Relena joined in on the laughter, and looked down at the ball of energy that came to stand near her legs after hearing her name. "Holly, this is Ms. Sandra. Say hello."  
  
"Hewoo." Holly stared inquisitively at the lady, and cocked her head to the side. "Are you my grandma?"  
  
Relena flushed a deep red at the question, but Sandra didn't seem to mind. In fact, she thought it was hilarious. She tipped her head back and laughed, an infectious laugh that had even Relena and Holly laughing. After a moment, Sandra brought her head back forward and wiped a few tears away from her eye.   
  
"Oh lordy, I haven't laughed that good in awhile." She crouched down and held out a hand. "Hello, Holly honey. No, I'm not your grandma, but I would like to be your friend. Would that be okay?"  
  
Holly glanced up at her mother for permission, and at Relena's nod, bounded forward to give a giant hug around the neck to Sandra. "Okay!"  
  
Sandra smiled softly and hugged the little girl back, but let go as soon as the toddler started to try and squirm out of her arms.   
  
Holly ran back to her mother and suffered while Relena removed her coat, hat, and gloves and smoothed her dark blond hair. After Relena was done, though, she started to run around the house again, getting into everything and generally having the time of her life. Relena and Sandra watched her for a few minutes before Relena reluctantly remembered why she was here.  
  
"Ms. Sandra, I'm sorry that I haven't introduced myself until now, but I am Relena Peacecraft and I was wondering if you-"  
  
"Oh!" Sandra interrupted loudly, and leaned in close to see Relena's face better. A big smile lighted her features. "Well, butter me up and cook me over a fire, I'm sorry honey. I didn't recognize you without my glasses. You must be that girl Yuy-dear is hung up on."  
  
For the second time that night, Relena flushed red. Then, however, what Sandra said sunk in a bit and Relena bit her lip worriedly.   
  
"I'm sorry, but are we talking about the same Yuy? Heero Yuy? About this height," she demonstrated with her hand, "with messy brown hair and dark blue eyes-"  
  
"The color of your daughter's," Sandra finished. "Yep, that's Yuy-honey all right. Dear, what's wrong? Your face just went white as a ghost."  
  
Relena just shook her head mutely. Heero, still 'hung up' on her? That couldn't be. He had to hate her... right?  
  
"I... I'm fine. You just surprised me. I thought..." Relena's voice died. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I thought that he hated... me."  
  
Sandra looked at her strangely, remembering to herself a certain photograph in a prime spot on Yuy-dear's desk. "And what would give you that idea?"  
  
Relena shifted nervously, suddenly afraid that if she told this woman the story, she would hate her too. But there was something compelling in the woman's gaze, and Relena just felt tired of carrying the burden alone. Only she knew the full truth, and Heero and... that other man knew only bits. She hadn't even told her brother and his wife... but suddenly the burden was too heavy.   
  
Relena's shoulders slumped, and a few tears gathered in her eyes. Sandra frowned worriedly, then wrapped an arm around Relena's shoulders.   
  
"It's okay, honey. Come tell me what's the matter. Maybe old Sandra can help, hmmm?" She turned to where the two-year-old whirlwind was currently making a mess out of her carefully organized desk. She didn't get mad though, she just smiled. It was about time some life had come back into his life. And she meant to see that he started to live again, whether or not he wanted it. Sandra smiled secretly and called out to the toddler. "Holly, dear, come into the kitchen with your momma and me. We'll make you some cookies to eat, okay?"  
  
Holly stopped her vastly-impressive destruction of any means of organization Sandra had in her desk, and ran over to them. "'Kay!"  
  
With Holly running ahead screaming like a banshee, Sandra gently led Relena into the kitchen and sat her down at her scarred oak table. Satisfied that Relena wouldn't go anywhere, she set about making some tea. After a few minutes it was ready and she handed a steaming mug to the forlorn woman before settling back in her own chair. With one eye on where Holly was now pulling out pots and pans from every drawer imaginable and organizing them in some complex order on the floor, she took a sip from her own mug.  
  
"So, what happened?" She asked.  
  
And Relena told. All two hours of it.  
  
~*~  
  
When Heero Yuy, computer web-designer extraordinaire, stomped into the house two hours after Relena's arrival, he was surprised to hear laughter coming from the direction of the kitchen. While he listened, Sandra said something during the time that it took Heero to slip off his boots and put on a pair of indoor shoes, and the laughter started again. There was something familiar about one of the laughs that tugged at his memory. It was light, feminine, but also had a husky quality to it. But Heero just shrugged it off. It was probably just one of his landlady's friends coming by to visit, though in the year and a half he had been living here, he hadn't seen anyone come even five miles near here. But it had nothing to do with him, so Heero shrugged out of his coat, hung it, and started for the stairs, already going over what he needed to do for the Morganson account.  
  
Sandra caught him just as he reached the first step. Immediately he noticed that the older woman looked flustered, and was patting her tightly curled brown hair as though it were out of place. He waited patiently for her to say what she needed to say, but after a minute it was clear she wasn't going to say anything. He glared at her for holding him up, and started up the stairs.  
  
"Wait, Yuy-honey. I need to talk to you for a minute," Sandra called in a tight voice.   
  
Heero sighed, and turned back around. He silently waited again, but when she didn't say anything again, he rubbed a tired hand over his face. "Yes?"  
  
"Well, I... that is to say... you see...."   
  
A sudden blur of red streaked out of the kitchen laughing loudly, and stopped just before plowing into Sandra's legs. Heero blinked and looked down at the toddler now clutching at Sandra's pants and staring up at him inquisitively. She had short dark blond hair currently sticking straight up, a heart shaped face and the two biggest blue eyes he had ever seen. Again, something nagged at the back of his mind, but he dismissed it yet again. Whatever it was, it couldn't be that important if he could forget it so easily.  
  
Sandra took the time it took for Heero to take in the toddler to collect herself, and she leaned a hand down to smooth the little girl's hair. "Holly, honey, say hello to Heero. He's the man your momma and I were talking about."  
  
Heero raised his eyebrows fractionally at Sandra's comment, but continued to look at the munchkin staring up at him with frank interest.  
  
"Hewoo Mr. Heewo," she said shyly, reaching up her free hand to suck on her thumb.  
  
Heero nodded imperceptivity. "Hello."  
  
For some reason, he just couldn't pull his eyes away from the little girl. That feeling of something being 'off' was driving him mad, because he felt he should know her. But how could he? He never socialized with anyone with kids. Hell, he barely socialized with people at all. So why the feeling he was missing something?  
  
Holly seemed to gather up her courage, and after removing her thumb from her mouth, ran the few steps to the stairs. She tilted her head all the way back, and if Heero could laugh, he probably would have at the picture of this little girl about to tip over from trying to see him and frowning in concentration. But he just waited to see what she would do.  
  
She decided something, and smiled. "Are you my daddy?"  
  
Heero's hand slipped from the banister, and he banged his elbow hard. Holding the offended elbow to his chest, he opened his mouth to say, hell no, he wasn't her father. But he never got the chance. A voice suddenly talked from the shadows.  
  
"Yes, he is."  
  
Heero jerked his head around quickly, and his eyes caught the form moving out from the shadows of the kitchen onto the landing. Light sea-green eyes looked at him sorrowfully under honey blond bangs, and ruby red lips trembled slightly as their owner attempted to mold them into a smile.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Heero."  
  
(A/N: Wouldn't this be a great place to end?? Hehehehe. But no, I'm not that evil. Onward!)  
  
~*~  
  
To say that Heero was shocked was a given. To say that he was angry was understandable. To say that he felt hurt, the deep, wrenching kind deep inside was saddening. But the sudden onslaught of joy and relief at seeing Relena's face was surprising, to say the least.   
  
Heero angrily turned the knob to the shower, and stepped out of the bath/shower. He grabbed a towel, and ignoring how cold the floor boards were, walked to his bedroom to sit on the bed. Then with ferocious anger, he attacked his hair with the towel, enjoying the sting of pulling his hair with each jerk of his hand. After awhile though, his motions slowed until his hands were still on his head. He lowered his arms until they rested on his knees, and bowed his head. The towel obstructed his sight, but he could still vividly see Relena's eyes staring up at him, tears magnifying their blueness so much it was painful. And her hair... the hair he used to love running his hands through, was held in a loose bun at the back of her head with a few tendrils framing her heart-shaped face. Now he realized why the little girl had looked familiar. Her hair wasn't as blond, and her eyes were a darker blue--his blue in fact--but she still had the same face.   
  
Why? Why, after all this time, does she come now? He had finally put her behind him, had started to forget her....  
  
'Liar' a part of him whispered, but he violently squelched it.   
  
'I do not need her anymore. I never did. She made me weak, but now... now...' Heero dipped his head lower. 'I don't need her. I don't... need her.'   
  
A tentative knock interrupted his thoughts, and he lifted his head to look at his door. It wasn't locked, which surprised him. Usually he wasn't so thoughtless, but he had been distracted when he had retreated to his room. The knock sounded again, and a soft voice called out. "Heero, may I please come in?"  
  
Heero could feel his glare heating up, but he got up to open the door, ignoring the fact that he was still buck naked. With a violent tug, he opened the door to glare out at the woman standing nervously in front of him, wringing her hands.  
  
"Heero, I-" she suddenly stopped and blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're busy right now. I can come back later and-"  
  
He didn't know why he did it, but he knew it was her fault. She just looked too beautiful, and his haunting dreams of her and what they used to share for the last three years had left him feeling like he was starving. He reached out a hand and jerked her forward onto his chest. When she tried to push back, he just tightened his hold on her and used his other hand to tilt her chin up before he claimed her mouth in a completely carnal kiss. There wasn't any love or tender feelings in it, but rather hunger and a deep longing so long denied.   
  
As soon as she felt his lips on hers, Relena melted into his embrace, and reached up her arms to wrap around his neck. All thoughts of guilt and fear slowly faded under the intense hunger in Heero's kiss, and she found herself kissing him just as desperately back.   
  
The kiss lasted for an undeterminable time, but Heero only came out of the kiss when he needed air. Relena collapsed against his bare chest, breathing hard, and though Heero wanted to believe that he hadn't been affected, his labored breathing revealed the lie. After a few minutes, Heero gathered himself together and realized what the sensation at the back of his neck was. Relena was still pressed tightly to his chest, but where her hands rested at the back of his neck, they stroked his hair in a very sexual way. Heero could feel himself responding, and as soon as he acknowledged that, he pushed her away from him violently. She stumbled back a few steps and looked at him with hurt and surprise in her eyes.  
  
"Heero, I..."  
  
"Save it," Heero deadpanned, and turned back towards the bathroom. He had just dismissed her, and from the casual way he walked back to the bathroom, he obviously had no intention of coming back to listen to her. If he thought that she would just let him walk away, though, he had another thing coming. Relena felt her temper ignite, and with a quick kick of her foot, closed the door behind her. Heero heard the slam, but continued walking towards the bathroom. He most likely thought that she had left. Relena gleefully killed that idea real quick.  
  
"Heero, I know that I have no right to come back after all this time, but I am not leaving until I explain what happened. You will just have to suffer my presence until then, I'm afraid."  
  
The steel in her voice struck another cord in Heero, and he used that to become angry. He swiveled on his heel and glared at the woman leaning casually against the door as if she had all the time in the world.   
  
"Relena, if you don't leave right now, I'll-"  
  
"You'll what, Heero Yuy? Hit me? You may be a lot of things, but you would never hit me, Heero, so don't even try that game."  
  
The last shreds of Heero's control were slipping, and he clenched his fists where they were at his sides.  
  
"Relena," he began in a nasty tone of voice. She interrupted him once again, however.  
  
"Put on some pants, Heero. You may try to kick me out after you have sufficiently covered yourself."  
  
Heero started to say that she could just stand there until the end of the world, but he wouldn't ever give in to her demands again, but the chill of the room was slowly starting to creep into his bones. He muttered a curse word under his breath, and stalked over to his bureau. Flinging one of the drawers open, he found a pair of sweats that had a hole in his left knee from when he had been practicing maneuvering exercises in the woods and tripped (not that he would ever admit that), and jerked them on. When he turned around to tell Relena to get the hell out now, he found she wasn't by the door anymore. Since he hadn't heard the door open or close, he knew she was still in the room. He quickly scanned the room and found her standing in front of his computer desk staring at a photograph. Cold fear gripped his heart as he watched her lift up the picture and trace her likeness over the cold glass.   
  
"I'm sorry, Heero. You have no idea how sorry I am," her soft voice said, barely reaching his ears. Before he could look away, she captured his gaze with her teary eyes. Her lips trembled, and he watched as she bit the lower one to try and control the trembling. The motion was so familiar, it was like a punch in the gut. All of his air escaped his lungs, and all he could manage to do was walk over to the bed and sit down.   
  
She came to sit on the other side of the bed, the photograph still in her hands. She was still tracing herself in the picture. From the corner of his eye, Heero saw her lift the photograph to her lips and gently kiss the spot where he knew he stood in the photo. It was too much and he bounded off the bed to walk over to her. He didn't try to get her to look at him, but just stood over her.  
  
"Why?" His voice broke slightly, but he didn't think she noticed. She was too busy looking at the photograph of the two of them on their first wedding anniversary about three years ago. He didn't have to see the picture to know that he was standing with his arm around Relena, a rare small smile on his lips, and Relena leaning her head on his shoulder with a soft smile of her own. He didn't know why he had kept it all this time, but every time he went to go and throw it away, he couldn't. So it just sat on his desk, a painful reminder of what used to be.   
  
Relena finally lifted her head, tears streaming down her face. She started shaking her head. "It wasn't what you thought, I swear. It wasn't...." She trailed off, and looked back down at the picture.  
  
Haltingly at first, then swifter, she told the story of how Quatre had come to her in tears right after Dorothy broke up with him. And how a gentle hug and a chaste kiss on his cheek led to Quatre desperately kissing her like he was drowning and she was his air. And how, even though she knew it was wrong, she didn't want to push him off and hurt him even more. So she kissed him back, and that was how Heero found them a couple minutes later.  
  
"That's all it was, Heero. I swear... I was just trying to comfort him, and then when he kissed me, I... I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to hurt him, so I just pretended that he was you and that I was kissing you." She lifted her head again to try and see how Heero was reacting, but she just found a blank face looking back at her. More tears slipped out, and she lowered her head again.  
  
"It was always you I was kissing, Heero. And then when you wouldn't listen, and started hitting Quatre, I didn't know what else to do but try and stop you. I didn't want you to kill one of your friends. But you... you thought it was something else, and I am so sorry.... I can't tell you how sorry I am! Please believe me! I never meant to hurt you! And I tried looking for you after you le-left that night, but I couldn't find you! Duo finally helped me track you down, and then here I am and...."  
  
Relena stopped talking, her tears flowing too hard. She just sat with her head bowed, waiting to see what he would do. But one minute passed, then two, then three, four, five, and finally ten. Relena's heart broke for every moment of silence he presented, and after about fifteen minutes, she stood up.  
  
"Well, I am sorry that I bothered you. I ju-just wanted you to know the truth, and know that I still love you... I still love you more than life itself." She wiped at her tears with her sleeve, and walked around him to put the frame back on the desk. From there she walked towards the door, but right before she opened it and left, she stopped. She talked to him with her back facing him.  
  
"She's beautiful, you know. She has your eyes and smile, and even your laugh. She'll be turning three in about 6 months... I was pregnant with her when you left. I was trying to find a perfect time to tell you," she laughed dryly, "but then everything fell apart."   
  
She was silent for a minute before she spoke again. "I know you hate me, but please don't hate her. She's the most wonderful child, and she shouldn't be blamed for my... stupidity. If you want to see her at any time, you know where we live." She opened up the door and started to leave, but paused one more time.  
  
"Good bye, Heero." Then the door closed softly behind her, leaving a man torn by thoughts and feelings alone in the darkness once again.  
  
(A/N: Again, this would be a good place to end it, but I'm in a good mood. It's been WAY too long since I wrote something, and I'm happy that I finally am able to! So here comes the end. Keep your seatbelts tight and hold on!)  
  
~*~  
  
The airport was quiet. Relena gently rubbed the back of her daughter where she was curled on her chest, her head tucked underneath Relena's chin. Though it was nearly 12 a.m. and she hadn't slept in over 24 hours, Relena wasn't tired. Instead she just felt numb. She stared ahead blankly and continued to rub soft circles on Holly's back. The toddler shifted slightly, and grabbed a chunk of Relena's hair to rub against her nose. Wincing at the jerk on her hair, Relena turned to look at the clock to her left. 11:52. In eight more minutes they'd be calling for her shuttle, and in four hours she would be back home with her family in time to celebrate Christmas.   
  
Relena sighed softly, and leaned her chin lightly on her daughter's head. At least now he knew. That burden was lifted, but another, heavier one was placed on her heart. What did she expect though, really? That he would listen to her, say "oh I'm sorry for doubting you, Relena. Let me come home"? And then things would go back to the way they were?  
  
'Yes' a tiny part of her said, and Relena felt tears gather at the back of her eyes. Yes, a part of her hoped that, if she explained what happened, then everything would be okay. Or at least, start on the road to being okay. But now... there was no chance of that.  
  
Relena shifted Holly slightly to look at her left hand. Her gold wedding band gleamed dully in the airport lights, and a deep ache started in her chest. She had always hoped that, once she explained, then she and Heero could resume their lives and their marriage. So, when she had received the divorce papers from him, she hid them in a drawer, hopefully never to be used. Now, though she wouldn't do it right when she got home, as soon as possible she would sign them. She would give Heero that which he desired most: his freedom from her. And she would raise Holly to the best of her ability, maybe with some help from Heero. But she didn't fool herself to think that she would get married again. There was only one man for her, and she had known it ever since she first discovered him on the beach and still knew it to this day. No, she would never marry again. She would always be alone, but perhaps that was what she deserved....  
  
She closed her eyes and tried to control her tears. Yet a few still leaked out, and she waited to feel them roll down her cheeks to join the countless others that had traveled the path before. She wasn't expecting to feel a rough finger wipe them away.  
  
Relena's eyes shot open and landed with great surprise on Prussian blue eyes. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. What? How? Why?  
  
Heero switched his gaze from Relena to his daughter lying so innocently on her mother's chest. Relena was surprised to see a longing in his gaze, but was even more surprised when his soft baritone voice asked her if he could hold her. All she could was nod and hand over Holly.  
  
The transition from one parent to another didn't faze Holly in the least, and as soon as her father had adjusted his hold to lean her head against his shoulder, she let out a soft sigh and smiled.   
  
Relena just watched Heero hold their daughter so carefully in his arms, and unbidden more tears came to her eyes. But these ones were tears of joy, healing a small hole in her heart as they leaked out of her eyes. 'Thank you' she whispered to whoever was listening, and smiled through her tears.  
  
"Flight 906 from Montana to Sanq Kingdom, now boarding. Flight 906 now boarding."  
  
Relena jerked as though someone had struck her when the announcement came over the loud speaker, and she turned hesitant eyes on Heero. He was staring back at her with an indiscernible look on his face.  
  
"Just tell me to stay, Heero," Relena whispered. "And we'll stay forever."  
  
But he was silent, that same blank look on his face. Relena felt her heart break again, but reached out to take Holly. For a second, Heero looked as though giving her back would be like ripping his own heart from his chest, but the second passed and he gently gave Holly back to her mother. She woke up in this exchange, and as all two-year-olds do when they are tired and want to be sleeping, she started crying. Relena rubbed a soothing hand over her back, and looked once more at Heero. His expression could have been carved out of stone, and Relena ducked her head so he wouldn't see her tears.  
  
"Last call for Flight 906 to Sanq Kingdom. Passengers please proceed to gate B and board. Again, last call for Flight 906."  
  
Relena smiled painfully, but refused to look up at Heero's face again, worried that her composure would fail.   
  
"Well, that's us. Thank you for everything, Heero. Good bye... again."  
  
She turned her back towards him, and with one arm still anchoring her crying daughter to her side, bent down to grab her travel bag.  
  
"Don't go."  
  
Relena froze, not sure if she heard the soft plea. She turned to look at Heero out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't look any different from the last time she looked at his face. Her heart dropped, and she turned back to her bag. What she heard was probably just a voice in her head. 'Wishful thinking' Relena thought bitterly. She stood back up and started to walk away.  
  
"Don't go."  
  
This time the plea was louder and most definitely not in her head. Relena froze again, but couldn't bear to turn around. "What?"  
  
"I said, don't go."  
  
Tears slipped down Relena's cheeks, and her daughter stopped crying in order to stare up at her mother in wonder.  
  
Relena slowly turned around, hope in her eyes, but still unwilling to believe she wasn't hallucinating or hearing things because it was what her heart wanted most of all.  
  
"Why? I thought-"  
  
"Please," Heero broke in, his face blank but his eyes showing all of what he was feeling. Pain, love, fear, need; all were visible through his beautiful eyes. Relena began to cry with earnest as he moved forward to envelope his family in his arms. He closed his eyes, and was surprised when a single tear of his own trickled down his cheek.  
  
"Please, stay with me. Don't go," his raspy voice asked, and he tightened his grip on around Relena and Holly. Relena could only nod against his chest, and Holly just stared back and forth, confused why both her mama and papa were crying.  
  
"Ms. Peacecraft?" A voice broke in, and both Relena and Heero turned to look at one of the flight stewards. He smiled slightly at them, but turned his gaze to Relena. "Ms. Peacecraft, will you be boarding this flight tonight?"  
  
Relena smiled, a true, happy smile when she felt Heero unconsciously tighten his arm around her waist, and shook her head.  
  
"No, I'm afraid we won't be flying tonight. I have to stay home to celebrate Christmas with my family."  
  
The steward nodded, and turned to go inform the pilot that he could take off. Relena and Heero turned back to stare into each other's eyes, and it was Relena who leaned up to place a warm kiss on Heero's lips.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Heero."  
  
Heero leaned down to rest his forehead on Relena's forehead, and looked between both Relena and Holly's eyes. The darkness that had been slowly devouring him from the inside faded in the light of his happiness, and he smiled his small smile for the first time in a long time.  
  
"Merry Christmas."  
  
~*~  
  
"But now we're standing face to face  
  
Isn't this world a crazy place?  
  
And just when I thought our chance had passed  
  
You go and save the best for last"  
  
~*~  
  
Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed telling it, and I hope the happy end made up for the angst. Be safe everyone, and have a wonderful, wonderful holiday season. ^.~ 


End file.
